Tag Archives: Ageism

Suffering is optional

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Tiffany Eckhardt, turning 52 could cause a crisis, but believes that suffering is optional... age is just a number.
So what I can’t tolerate dairy anymore! My hubby found a vegan red velvet cupcake!

This week I turned 52, the expected time frame for a midlife crisis. However, I believe that suffering is optional because age is just a number.  

You have the power to cultivate any outlook on life you want.  I love birthdays!

I was born in 1970 and am consider Gen X, the lost generation.  Who decides these things?  I don’t feel lost.  Do you? 

Funny thing is I can never remember how old I am, which is ridiculous given the easy math, but I also can never remember what day it is either.  

Jeff thinks it’s intentional.  Maybe it is.  LOL! 

How do you view birthdays?

Do you love birthdays?  If you don’t, what about a birthday makes you cringe?  

Does aging mean you loose purpose, as if the older you get the less meaning you have to others?  

Are you worried about being alone?  Loneliness is a real challenge for empty nesters.

Is your health the issue that has you loosing sleep at night?  

Your best years are ahead

While I recognize the down side of aging, I truly believe that there is way more to celebrate with each new year.  

The truth is you have the power to create wellness and take control of your health.  I am living proof of this!  No dairy? Jeff found vegan red velvet cupcakes for me… there’s always a solution.

You can learn to love your own company, another thing I have cultivated in my own life.  

Learning and investing in your growth never stops at a certain age.  Each new year is another opportunity to discover new things about yourself.  

The secret sauce is to discover your purpose and find meaning in this season.  You will then begin to loose track of time and love birthdays, as you truly believe your best days are ahead.  

Suffering is optional?

You seriously don’t have to indulge in suffering about your age or any other limiting belief.  If you are feeling sad or lonely I get it!  I still get lonely at times, and am sad that my house isn’t full of irreverent teenagers.  But…

“If you could only sense how important you are in the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of.  There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”  Fred Rogers

I can help you walk through the real emotions that downsizing, or an empty nest can generate.  I understand the stages of change that you are dancing through, but I also know how to get you from resistance to resilience.  

Don’t waste any more time yearning for purpose or meaning in this season!  

You might be thinking that I don’t understand your situation. Try me!

I invite you to schedule a chat with me… it is so easy!  Simply follow my calendar link and pick a date/time that works for you.  I’d love to learn about your journey, where you are and where you’d like to be.  

Your best years are ahead and suffering is optional.

~Tiffany

And the birds fluttered around her writing “YES” in the sky.

A 98.8% happier life

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Tiffany Eckhardt, Certified Life Coach helping midlife women lead 98.8% happier lives. Believe your best years are ahead!

Live a 98.8% happier life!

You can live a 98.8% happier life by busting three midlife myths.

Have you accepted that at a certain age you begin to fight a loosing battle with age?  What if you were actually entering into the best season of your life?  

I am a cockeyed optimist with uncommon energy.  

Without subscribing to rainbows or unicorns, but have learned tools that allow me to fully function through life’s good and bad.  

You can create a life that includes abundant wellness and realize dreams at any age.  

Have you accepted midlife myths?

It occurred to me that there are some common midlife myths accepted as truth.  What if they were simply not true? 

First, what thoughts do you actually have about midlife and aging?  Gathering your thoughts in a journal by jotting down all the thoughts that you have about midlife.     

Next, take a look at the thoughts.  Do you like the thoughts? Are they true?  Where have these thought and ideas come from?  

It is widely believed that our bodies are not separated from our thoughts or emotions.  This is why I preach Self-Aware is the first step to Self-Care.  It is time to let go of toxic beliefs.  Then frame, or reframe, what your idea of midlife is and create it!  

Three myths to bust in order to believe your best years are ahead

1.  Midlife means the beginning of a loosing battle with well being.

In her book Goddesses Never Age, Christiane Northrup, M.D. confirms, “physical deterioration occurs in large part because of the accumulation of toxins, which results in cellular deterioration and damage along with tissue and organ breakdown.”  

Yet, she also offers that the body is in a constant state of reinvention.  “You do not have to have the same physical body you had just a few years ago.  Every cell has been replaced.”

I am living proof of this!  In 2017 I decided to question the idea that our bodies have to fall apart in midlife.  I spent three years removing toxins from my diet and home.  In 2019 I learned to manage my mind. Thanks to this work, I am not the same person I was back then.  

You can achieve wellness at any age.  Your best years are ahead.

2.  An empty nest is boring and lonely

An empty nest isn’t lonely because I am there.

Typically women spend there lives between 20 and 40 tending to their families.  Without giving it a second thought, their schedule is dictated by work and family.  When their little birdies fly the coop, there is naturally a void to fill.  

Although change is rarely popular, a new routine emerges from the quiet house.  At this point in life, you are ready to make decisions about what your future will look like?  

Unfortunately, “we believe that if something great was going to happen, it would have happened when we were 20 or 30, right? It would have happened when we were in college or when we were going to school or whatever. That’s when all the amazing things happen. But what if we’re totally wrong about that?”  ~Brooke Castillo

There are several ways to look at an empty nest.  What if you decide to enjoy your own company and believe your best years are ahead?

3.  Time is running out with little options

Why focus on what can’t be done?  

I intend to bust this myth wide open!!!!  There have been too many examples of successful people who achieved greatness after the age of 40.  Success leaves clues.  Studying their stories encourages me to explore my own.  

Time will run out if you indulge in self depravation.  Midlife is the time to invest in childhood dreams, ideas that have took a back seat to the demands of family and what your soul longs to teach you.

What if you made each day count and believe the best years are ahead?    

The Crossroads

I am sure you’ve created a few midlife myths of your own. 

Are you at the crossroads, at a point in life when you are ready to make decisions about what your future will look like?  

I want to help you believe your best years are ahead!  Not only have I mastered the fine art of reinvention, I am a certified life coach that can help you bust the midlife myths.  

Self-aware is the first step to self-care. 

Schedule a FREE mini session today!  It is my life’s work to inspire midlife women to love their lives 98.8% more!

What midlife myths do you wish to bust?  Click the link below to schedule your FREE mini session!  

Tiffany Eckhardt, Certified Life Coach

Rejecting Ageism

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Tiffany Eckhardt, Certified Life Coach helping midlife women believe their best years are ahead. Today she chats about rejecting ageism.

Have you heard the term ageism?  You may not have experienced anything akin to discrimination, but you might have used it against yourself by buying into stereotypes.  Have you ever limited yourself because of your age?  It is a sneaky thing we do to ourselves when celebrate certain birthdays.  

“You are not a mistake.  You are not a problem to be solved.  But you won’t discover this until you are willing to stop banging your head against the wall of shaming, caging, and fearing yourself,”  Geneen Roth.  

Don’t bang your head against your age either. 

I prefer ageless to ageism

“To be ageless is to defy the rules of what it supposedly means to be this age or that,”  Dr. Christiane Northrup.  

After reading Dr. Christiane Northrup’s book Goddesses Never Age I was inspired to forge my own path and make my own rules for the next few decades.  Lucky for me I have wonderful role models.  My parents are both health conscious and lead interesting lives.  My Mom loves to say, “You rest, you rust.”  Adopting an ageless attitude will help you flourish physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.   

How to reject ageism for agelessness

1. Find examples

You will find countless examples of midlife success by doing a simple Google search.  I’ve studied well known people like Martha Stewart and Julia child.  But, I love the stories of women who blazed their own trail without the fanfare of fame.

The documentary Fabulous Fashionistas highlights six spunky 80’ish women who refuse to stop living.  These women wear Doc Martens and mini-skirts, and “don’t give a toss” about what people think of them.  Jean Woods, 75 years young, runs several times a week on her new knee and got a job as the oldest employee of GAP.  In their pursuit of life they all stay fit, aren’t afraid of hard work and have a steely determination.  Their indomitable spirits are inspiring.  

Betty White at age 95 remarked, “Don’t try to be young.  Just open your mind.  Stay interested in stuff.  There are so many things I won’t live long enough to find out about.  But I’m still curious about them.”  She is definitely an inspiration.  

2. Be aware

Who determines when your value diminishes?  Do you feel invisible (a common complaint of age conscious people)?  Do you have a shelf life?  

Well, society and stereotypes will attempt to turn you to anti-aging agents, creams or surgeries to make you feel younger.  Because you are “worth it.”  I believe this propaganda is robbing you of who you really are, of your sense of self, wisdom, sense of usefulness.  

Only you can determine your worth.  You can allow the messages that younger is better, or you can reject the message as an outright lie.  Once you become aware of what you truly believe about midlife, you can address these thoughts.  

So, what sneaky thoughts have you noticed depleting your midlife mojo?  Are you aware?

3. Breakthrough

“Our obsession with image is tiring, it’s never ending.  Where as if our emphasis turns inward more, what really our life is about, what turns us on, what makes us feel electric, then that starts to glow outside.”  Scilla Elworthy

At this point in life you can either think there is no time or energy for your dreams, or you no longer want to put your dreams on hold.  One thought is energy depleting and the other creates energy.

A breakthrough demands a radical departure from some of your habitual thoughts.  How would you show up to midlife if you could believe anything is possible?  You are worth exploring this question.  You just as you are.    

Your best years are ahead

I truly believe your best years are ahead.  This is the belief I’m building my coaching practice upon.  I am passionate about sharing tools that will help you realize your best life, at any age.

If you can believe, life is ready to to give you a breakthrough.  This belief is energy creating.  

I’d love to help you create YOUR vision for midlife.  So, I’ve made it easy for you to get started.  I offer a FREE mini session for those of you who are curious about life coaching.  Click the link below and choose a date on my calendar.  It really is that simple.  

~Tiffany

And the birds fluttered around her writing “YES” in the sky.  

Tiffany Eckhardt, Certified Life Coach